Today Virginia can begin the process of implementing historic ruling to dismantle Jim Crow era voting restrictions

RICHMOND, Va. — Today, in response to a federal judge affirming his original, historic ruling that paved the way for thousands of disproportionately Black Virginians to get their voting rights back, ACLU of Virginia Senior Supervising Attorney Vishal Agraharkar released the following statement:

“Today’s decision reaffirms what both history and the United States District Court have already established: that for more than a century, Virginia has broken federal law — and disproportionately impacted Black voters — by taking away the right to vote from everyone with a felony conviction. It’s shocking that instead of celebrating the chance to honor and complete the work of Reconstruction by finally ridding itself of an enduring vestige of Jim Crow, the Commonwealth attempted to narrow the impact of this ruling by excluding certain people whose voting rights were illegally taken from them.

“The court stood firm on its historic ruling in King v. Youngkin, paving the way for thousands of disproportionately Black Virginians to reclaim voting rights back that should have never been stripped in the first place. Now, it’s time for Virginia to finally begin the work of implementing King v. Youngkin, so that as Virginia voters consider a constitutional amendment to make voting rights restoration automatic, this litigation can reduce the number of people who lose them in the first place – and make sure everyone has a voice in our democracy.”